Peter Ijeh: Super Eagles lack of friendliness and understanding

Former Nigerian International, Peter Ijeh says there is rancour in the Super Eagles team which showed lack of friendliness and understanding.

Portugal thrashed the Super Eagles 4-0 in the first-ever senior international clash between Nigeria and Portugal, with the Eagles failing to measure up to the 2016 European champions in Lisbon.

And Ijeh believes that the attitude displayed by Emmanuel Dennis and William Troost Ekong over a penalty kick against Portugal shows clearly that the tea has plenty of rancour.

“I can see some arguments between players that want to play the penalty kick. This means there are a lot of things happening in the background. He stepped up and missed the penalty that should have been converted,” Ijeh told Brila FM.

“If he had converted the penalty to make the scoreline 2-1, it might have been a boost for the team.

“The Portuguese had more ball possession in the first half which means that a team that has more of the ball has the tendency of scoring than a team that doesn’t have the ball.”

Nigeria earned a penalty in the 80th minute when debutant Osayi-Samuel was tripped in the Portuguese box, but Dennis failed to beat Patricio from six yards with a soft kick. Despite the setback, the Swedish based Nigerian is hopeful about improvement in the future.

“In the second half, Nigeria had to come out from their comfort zone but it was too late before the Portuguese made it 4-0. It’s still a learning curve for the Eagles and the coaches,” Ijeh concluded.

The game was Super Eagles’ last in 2022 after missing out on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and will focus on the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers next year.

Portugal will face the Black Stars of Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.